Brothers
by Zephyrclaws
Summary: The Uchiha are not the bastards they are in the canon. Naruto is taken under their protection, though not adopted, and the Uchiha Massacre never happens. NaruIno, SasuSaku. More later.
1. Chapter 1

Brothers

Chapter 1: A New Dawn

A/N: Well, here's another one. This is my second fic, any reviews will be greatly appreciated.

Zephyrclaws:Kyuubi, wanna do the honors?

Kyuubi: GRAAAH GRR GRAWRL (Yeah, yeah. he doesn't own Naruto, nor does he have a life)

Zephyrclaws:Hey! I heard that!

Kyuubi: And?

Zephyrclaws:...

You can talk? 0_0

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Hiruzen Sarutobi, the Third Hokage, looked down at the remains of what had once been a mighty forest, and sighed. They were lucky that the Kyuubi hadn't reached the village; much longer, and the earthquakes caused by its presence alone would've leveled the Hidden Leaf, not to mention the demon itself. He shuddered. A baby's cry shook him out of his morbid thoughts, and he rushed over to his crib to comfort the boy. Poor Naruto... He'd come out the worst in all of this. No parents, no relatives of any kind... On top of that, there was the Council. He frowned briefly. Just then, he heard someone knocking at his door. "Speak of the devil..." He carried Naruto back to his desk, and called for them to enter. In they came, the three elders Koharu, Homura, and Danzo, followed by the clan heads of the Hyuuga, Inuzuka, Aburame, Uchiha, Yamanaka, Nara, and Akimichi. Almost as soon as all were seated, arguments broke out, with the elders and the head of the Hyuuga arguing for Naruto's death, the Aburame remaining neutral, and the rest arguing for protecting him. "SILENCE!" Everyone looked towards the normally calm Hokage in shock. His eye was twitching sporadically. "I have already made my decision. The boy shall live, under the protection of the ANBU. He will be sent to an orphanage, and, hopefully, grow up as a normal boy would. Also, I am making a decree: from this moment on, it is forbidden to speak of what is sealed within him, to him, or anyone of his generation. The punishment for doing so... is death." Ignoring the stony glares he received from the elders, he dismissed them, and put Naruto back in his crib. He wished that he could adopt the boy himself, but he didn't dare push it with the elders; as upset as they were over what he'd done, any more might've caused an open rebellion, and right now, with the village still recovering from the Kyuubi's attack, it might've been destroyed entirely, and the Fourth's sacrifice would've been in vain...

3 years later...

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Itachi rushed towards the orphanage, cursing himself for his lateness. Normally, he was never late to anything, but, considering the celebration his parents had held last night, sleeping in was understandable. Understandable, but not acceptable. He gritted his teeth. This was his first mission as an ANBU, and being late was certainly not the way to make a good impression. He arrived in the room of his assigned ward, to see a knot of older kids surrounding a younger kid. Itachi swore violently when he saw that the younger kid had spikey blond hair. Hearing this, the older kids saw him, and ran away. Laying on the ground, his cuts already healing themselves, was Naruto Uzumaki, the boy he had been assigned to guard. Who gave those kids knives? He would have to talk with the director of the orphanage about that later. Since he'd already shown himself to the other kids, and his ward was hurt, Itachi decided to stay with him for a little while. Unlike most of the citizens of Konoha, the Uchiha thought of Naruto as their savior from the Fox, rather than its puppet. If the council had allowed it, they would've adopted him, but since that option was out, they settled for the next-best thing, and recommended Itachi to be his new guardian. At the age of thirteen, he was already one of the strongest shinobi in his clan, and one of the youngest ninja to ever make ANBU in the Village Hidden in the Leaves. Looking down at Naruto, who was still unconscious, his eyes hardened. He would not allow him to be hurt again.

About half an hour later, Naruto woke to see a stranger in his bedroom, and he instinctively covered his head with his arms, curling up into a ball. He tensed, waiting for the blows to come, but they never did. Cautiously, he peeked out from between his arms to see the tall stranger... smiling at him? Itachi, in his most soothing voice, said "Don't worry. I'm gonna be protecting you, from now on. Those kids won't ever bother you again, I promise." Naruto looked at him, tears running down his face, whispered "Why?"

Itachi, misunderstanding this, said, "This is my job." Naruto shook his head. "No, why?" This time, he pointed in the direction the older kids had gone, and Itachi understood. "I'm... not supposed to tell you that. Please, just forget about them." At that moment the director of the orphanage walked into the room, shouting "What's going on in h-" He paled as he saw Itachi, the young ANBU's face a mask of cold fury. "Tell me, director. Why did those children have knives?" The director spluttered something incoherent, and quickly left the room. Itachi turned to pick up Naruto, who gladly latched onto this welcome stranger, and took off for the Hokage tower.

The Hokage raised an eyebrow as he saw his newest ANBU leading Naruto by the hand into his office, hovering over the boy like a protective older brother. "Hokage-sama, I request that Naruto be moved from that orphanage. when I arrived, I saw the other children attacking him." The Hokage nodded. This was nothing new, he was beginning to wonder if Itachi had overreacted. "Hokage-sama, they had knives." The Third's eyes widened, and he looked down at Naruto to see the still-healing cuts all over his body. He paused for a moment, considering his next action. Too much, and the council might start something. Too little, and young Naruto here might die. This would have to be handled carefully... "Though he shall be moved from the orphanage, I cannot take care of him myself; you know what the elders are like." Itachi nodded. Not a day went by that his father didn't grouch about 'Those damn elders'. From what he'd heard, they were strenuously opposed to anything that would benefit the young jinchuriki. The Hokage paused for a moment, deliberating. Then, he spoke. "He shall be moved to an apartment of his own; hopefully, in his isolation, the villagers will leave him alone, and they possibly might forget him. However, I cannot expect a three-year-old child to survive on his own; He will need a caretaker. Itachi, are you willing to do this for him?" Itachi bowed. "Of course, Hokage-sama, it would be an honor!" Sarutobi smiled. "For the moment, until I can find him a dwelling, I will have to ask you to take him home with you, just for a day or two." Itachi smiled. "I don't think that will be a problem, Hokage-sama." The Third chuckled. "Just try to make sure he isn't smothered."

When he arrived at the Uchiha compound, a few minutes later, he was greeted with a disappointed look from his parents, until they saw the little blonde-haired boy on his back, then his father smiled, and his mother rushed to hug him, catching Naruto as well. "Careful, mom, you'll break his ribs!" His father asked, "Son, while this is an honor, to be certain, why are you bringing your ward home? He was placed in an orphanage, was he not?" Itachi grimaced. "When I arrived at the orphanage, I saw the other children attacking him. With knives. I reported the problem to Hokage-sama, and he said that he would find a place for him to live, with me as his caretaker, if I accepted. Of course, I did, and Hokage-sama is looking for a suitable dwelling right now. In the meantime, he requested that Naruto stay with us." His parents' faces were ashen. His father hissed, "They had... knives?" Itachi nodded, and his mother gave Naruto another bear hug, whispering, "Oh, poor baby..."

A few hours later, after Naruto had been introduced to everyone (Itachi's mother had almost cried when Naruto called her 'mommy'), they sat down to have lunch together. Naruto looked over at Sasuke, and smiled, getting himself a smile in return from the cheerful boy. Afterwards, Fugaku suggested that Itachi take the two to play in the back yard, and the boys ran out, leaving an exasperated Itachi to follow after. At the park, the two became fast friends, though Sasuke seemed to be a little frustrated sometimes. Later, when Itachi asked him what was wrong, Sasuke asked "Itachi-niisan, why can't Naruto talk normal?" Itachi smiled gently. "Naruto wasn't given school like you were. Aside from us, there aren't many in the village who like him, so no one bothered to teach him. Don't worry, though. Now that I'm his guardian, that's gonna change." Sasuke frowned for a moment, before asking, "What's a guardian?" Itachi said "You know how I said that not many people like him?" Sasuke nodded. "Well, there are some people who don't like him so much, that they want to hurt him. A guardian's job is to make sure that doesn't happen. In a way, I'm your guardian, too, little brother." Sasuke, his face still worried, asked, "Why do people not like Naruto-kun? He seems nice enough to me." Itachi grimaced. "I'm not allowed to tell you that... The only thing I can tell you is that he had no control over it; it's not his fault. The best thing we can do for him is to be his friends." Sasuke grinned. "Okay!"

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Over the next nine years, Naruto and Sasuke grew inseparable, and would often be seen in the backyard, playing 'ninja'. As time went by, he began wearing dark colors, to match his best friend. His shirt was a smoky grey, with a red spiral on the back. It had no collar, and short sleeves. He grew his hair out, until it hung to his shoulders, and streaked it with black for better camouflage. His pants were a dark forest green, and he wore standard shinobi sandals. In his time off, Itachi taught them both basic taijutsu, and, after much pleading, he gave in to the 'puppy eyes' and showed them each a jutsu corresponding with their element*, and he checked their eyes repeatedly when they actually managed to pull it off, the day before they went to the academy for the first time. Naruo had an immense amount of chakra for his age, but with his horrible control, he ended up wasting almost all of it every time he performed a jutsu. Sasuke, however, had a little above average control and chakra for his age, which is to say, not that much. Still, he could use his technique just as often as Naruto, which meant that they could perform each jutsu about once or twice a day before completely wearing themselves out. Finally, the day came when they were accepted as academy students. The elders were quite irritated that Naruto was going to be a ninja, but, with the Third firmly attached to the boy, not to mention the Uchiha, they didn't dare say anything.

The other students, however, had no problem picking on Naruto. One kid picked on him so badly, and so frequently, that during recess he shot a low-powered Kamaitachi at the boy, just to shut him up. After that, the other kids left the two boys alone. The next four years passed fairly uneventfully. As advanced as they were in Ninjutsu, their taijutsu was only slightly better than a normal academy student, and their genjutsu was below average. The two became even closer, and even began creating collaboration jutsu together, since Itachi was becoming too busy with his ANBU duties to teach them. They almost burned down the academy when they tested their Spiral Flame

jutsu, which was created when Naruto used Kamaitachi on Sasuke's Fireball. By their last year, Sasuke's taijutsu had improved drastically, along with his control. Naruto's Taijutsu was equal with Sasuke's, but his control was still not that great, though it was steadily getting better, thanks to his practice trying to make Kamaitachi 'sharper'. However, they didn't worry about their schoolwork much; there was a much bigger problem for them to deal with: worst two were the best of friends, Ino Yamanaka and Sakura Haruno. Sakura was absolutely crazy about Sasuke, while Ino would sometimes drool when shown a picture of Naruto. In their third year, the two boys finally gave in, and agreed to be their boyfriends. It happened one day on their way home from the academy...

Ino and Sakura were hiding in a tree, waiting for their targets. The two had agreed to work together, since both boys were headed to the same house. When they came into view, the girls pounced, each landing perfectly on her crush. "Sasuke!" Sakura shouted, holding on to him for dear life. Next to her, Ino was doing the same to Naruto, and both boys turned beet red before falling on their backsides, the girls still on top of them. Ino yelled, "I love you, Naruto!", as he gently pushed her off of him. "Ino, if you want me as your boyfriend, this isn't exactly the right way to go about it..." Sasuke nodded, pushing Sakura off of his stomach. "Yeah. If you really want to be with us, why are you chasing us all over the place? To us, that just makes you look like a pair of lunatics." Naruto looked at their forlorn expressions, and sighed. "You know, Sasuke, I think we should give them a second chance." Sasuke thought for a moment, then leaned over and whispered in Naruto's ear. Naruto grinned, and nodded vigorously. Nruto looked Ino dead in the eye, and Sasuke did the same to Sakura. "Girls," they said, "If you want to be with us, there's one condition. You've gotta train with us, every day, and give it your all." Sasuke winked at Sakura, and whispered, "After all, strength is beauty... Sakura-chan." Naruto blushed, and said "Ino-chan, the truth is, I love you too... I just don't like being chased." He shuddered, memories of drunken villagers flooding his mind. There was a reason he was always at the Uchiha compound... Ino nodded, understanding. She'd seen him running from the villagers before, which is why she admired him for his cheerfulness. Ino looked into his sapphire eyes, and rejoiced mentally. Suddenly, making Naruto's face turn bright red, she gave him a smouldering kiss, pouring every ounce of her love into that one moment. Sakura, meanwhile, was doing the same to Sasuke. Both boys passed out.

Since that day, both girls showed up bright and early at the Uchiha compound every morning at six a.m., closely followed by Naruto. They would train for an hour and a half, then they would all walk to the academy together. After school, they would all head back, and train for another two or three hours, depending on what their lessons had covered that day. Ino convinced her father to teach her the mind/body transfer jutsu, and Sakura got some help from Itachi, who, after testing her and finding that her element was water, taught her some low-level water jutsu. They were doing well in all areas, with the exception of Naruto, whose chakra control still wasn't as good as the others', though it was above average for his class. His teachers mostly ignored him, with one exception. His primary sensei in his fourth-year class seemed to take a liking to him. This teacher's name was Iruka Umino, and he saw Naruto and Sasuke as his favorite students.

The night before the exam, Naruto was staying over at Sasuke's, and he was about to go to bed, when Itachi stopped him just outside the door of their room. "Naruto, we have reason to suspect a traitor in the academy. We think that he will try to steal the scroll of sealing; however, if he has someone that he thinks he can trick into stealing it for him, he will use that opportunity, and we may be able to catch him in the act." Naruto looked confused. "Itachi-neesan, why are you telling me this?"

Itachi sighed. "We want you to be the one he thinks he can trick into stealing the scroll. He'll probably look for someone who fails the exam, and offer it as a way for them to pass. We want you to pretend to fail, in order to lure him out. This will be counted as a B-rank mission, and you will automatically graduate on completion of the mission. This is to be kept top-secret. Do you accept?" Naruto's eyes got wide. "Of course!" Fugaku stuck his head out of his doorway. "Naruto, do you think you could keep it down? We're trying to sleep." Naruto grinned. "Sorry, 'tousan, I'm going to bed now." Fugaku smiled. Despite the fact that Naruto wasn't legally an Uchiha, he still saw him as his son, and made it clear to everyone that he was to be treated that way. Of course, most of the villagers hated him for taking in 'the demon brat', but he didn't care what they thought.

The next morning, after their morning sparring, both boys walked to the academy, a sense of excitement filling the air, with a small bit of nervousness on the part of the students lower in rank. Naruto, Sasuke, Ino, and Sakura were all tied for the top spot in the class, and they were expected to pass with ease. Naruto waited through the other's tests anxiously (they all passed with flying colors), as he prepared for his own turn. Finally, his name was called, and he walked to the test room, where he faced his two teachers, Iruka and Mizuki. Summoning his chakra, he deliberately let it flare around him, pouring way, way too much chakra into the jutsu. Only one clone appeared, and it was malformed. Inwardly he rejoiced, but he allowed none of it to show on his face, as he turned and walked to the courtyard to meet his friends. Sasuke stared in disbelief when he heard that Naruto failed, but he saw the look in Naruto's eye, and knew that something else was going on. When he asked Naruto what the matter was, he replied "I can't tell you right now. I'll tell you tonight, when I get back. Please, let me be alone for a while." Ino looked into his eyes, pleading, but he shook his head slowly. It hurt him to leave them in the dark like this, but Itachi had said the mission was top-secret, and he wouldn't risk messing it up by telling them now. He didn't have to try very hard to put a sad look on his face as he sat on his favorite swing.

Once all of the other students were gone, Mizuki came over to Naruto, and said, "Let's take a walk together. I'd like to talk to you for a while." Naruto, knowing that he was sitting right next to a traitor, fought hard to repress a shudder, but Mizuki didn't seem to notice. They ended up sitting on a roof together, staring at the sunset. Mizuki looked over at Naruto, and said, "Iruka doesn't hate you, you know. He just wants you to be stronger, and the only way for you to do that is to pass on your own skill." Naruto nodded, too busy fighting back his instinct to try and kill this guy to say anything. Finally, he managed to calm down enough to say, "I really wanted to pass... I feel like I've let Sasuke and Itachi-neesan down..." Mizuki smiled slyly. "Well, I guess that means I have to tell you." Naruto pretended to brighten with curiosity, even though he knew what the man was about to say. "Tell me what, sensei?" Mizuki's smile deepened into a grin, and he whispered, "There's another way to pass the exams. All you have to do is steal the Scroll of Sealing from the Hokage's office, and learn one jutsu from it. There's a spot in the woods not far from here, with a cabin nearby. I'll be there later tonight to see how you did." As soon as Mizuki left, Naruto headed for the Hokage mansion, to report to the Third.

Knocking on the door, he heard the old man say "Enter.", and he did. "Stage one complete. The traitor is Mizuki." Sarutobi smiled. "You have done well, Naruto. As of this moment, you are an official shinobi of the Hidden Leaf, with all of the priviliges and responsibility that come with the job. Now go, and complete your mission. I will give your headband to Itachi to give to you when you return. Also, his parents have been notified of the mission, and they said that they would like you to sleep over at the Uchiha compound tonight." Naruto grinned. He already had one foot out the window, when the Third called to him. "Naruto, aren't you forgetting the scroll?" He stepped back in. "Oh yeah..." the Third grinned. "You have my permission to learn one jutsu from that scroll. For you, I would suggest the Shadowclone jutsu. With your immense reserves, chakra depletion shouldn't be a problem. I'll have Itachi standing by to capture him." Naruto jumped in excitement, accidentally hitting his head on the ceiling. Rubbing the top of his head, he leapt out of the window, the scroll firmly attached to his back.

Hours later, Naruto sat wearily against a tree, waiting for Mizuki-teme to arrive. He'd succesfully mastered the Shadowclone jutsu, and had figured out how to use it for training purposes. Most of the trees in the area had been knocked down from the sheer weight the first time he'd tried it, and after that he'd been a little more careful. He tried, after a while, to transform a clone into an iron ball in mid-air, to be used as a projectile weapon. When he did, he heard a muffled 'mmph', and saw Itachi fall out of a nearby tree, unconscious from the impact. Thinking fast, Naruto tied him to the upper branches, thankful that Mizuki hadn't seen him. Almost as soon as he was done, the teme himself appeared, smirking. "Naruto, there's been a change of plans. Give me the scroll!" Naruto growled at him. "My plan hasn't been changed at all! I was never going to give you the scroll, although I knew you'd ask for it, Mizuki-teme! "

Mizuki stared in shock at his former student. "Naruto, don't you want to graduate?" Naruto smirked. "I already graduated, fool. This was a set-up!" Mizuki stared at him for a moment, before howling with laughter. "Oh, this is rich! To think, the demon brat, on a mission to stop me? It's too much!" Naruto paused in confusion. "Demon brat?" Mizuki, now wiping tears from his eyes, said, "Twelve years ago, the Third passed a special decree, one you were never supposed to know about." "Why, why wasn't I supposed to know about it? What is this decree, anyway?" Mizuki smirked, enjoying the anger he saw in Naruto's expression. "The decree is that no one is allowed to tell you about the demon fox sealed in your body!" Naruto, to say the least, was shocked. All these years, the villagers hated him, and for what? It's not like he was the kyuubi! Then it dawned on him. They probably thought that the kyuubi was possessing him, or something similar.

Just then, Itachi woke up. "Wha... Hey! who tied me to the tree? Get me down from here!" Mizuki eyed the tree warily, then unhooked one of the giant shuriken off of his back, and threw it at the helpless Itachi. Naruto knocked it away with reppusho, and growled, "If you so much as touch Itachi-neesan... I'll kill you!"

Mizuki laughed again, and taunted him. "Oh, please. I'm a chuunin! I can defeat you in a single move!" Naruto glared at him, forming the oh-so-familiar cross seal. "Give it your best shot, fool. I'll return it a thousand times over! Shadowclone Jutsu!" Mizuki's eyes nearly popped out of their sockets, as he saw about four hundred Narutos 'poof' into existence. Then, before he could pick up his jaw from the floor, those Narutos proceeded to beat the shit out of him.

Once Mizuki was out cold, Naruto untied Itachi. Somberly, he asked, "Is it true, what he said about the kyuubi being sealed in me?" Itachi sighed. "I was hoping you wouldn't hear that, especially not from a traitor like him, but yes, it's true. However, just because you contain the kyuubi, doesn't mean that you are the demon itself, no matter what the other villagers may tell you." Naruto smiled at him, and gave him a hug. "Thanks, Itachi-neesan." Itachi smiled. "Close your eyes for a sec, I have a surprise for you." Naruto closed his eyes, and he felt the sliding and tightening of fabric on his forehead. When he opened his eyes, Itachi said "Congratulations. I know the old man already said this, but you are now a ninja."

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A/N: I'm sorry if this sounds like a narrative, but I had to get it out of the way in order to proceed with the story. The next chapter will be better, I promise. On an almost completely unrelated note, this is the longest chapter I've ever written.

* Fireball and Kamaitachi (Wind Scythe)

These are the Chakra Natures of the rookie nine, and team Guy:

Kakashi-Lightning

Naruto-Wind

Sasuke-Fire

Hinata-Water

Kurenai-Earth

Kiba-Earth

Sakura-Water

Shino-Earth

Asuma-Wind

Shikamaru-Earth

Chouji-Fire

Ino-Lightning

Guy-Fire (which is why it always comes out of his eyes during the 'youth' speech. *shudders*)

Neji-Water

Tenten-Lightning

Lee-Fire, but he never uses it, for obvious reasons.


	2. Announcement

Announcement

Okay, I know that discourages author's notes as chapters, but I figure that this would reach more people than simply editing my profile - almost no one ever looks at those.

Anyway.

Recently, I've been faced with a dramatic decrease in free time. This translates into a good deal less attention to my stories, and so I am left with one option.

Adoption.

Yes, that's right. I'm keeping Partners, obviously, and maybe Scars, once I rewrite a couple parts in it, but anything else, I don't really have enough attention for.

However, I'm not just gonna give these away to the first guy (Or girl) who asks. To ensure that they find a good home, I'd like a message with the name of the story you'd like to adopt, as well as an example of your own work. I want to make sure that these ideas will get the time and attention they deserve, by an author who, at the very least, knows how to spell.


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